Category: France et Suisse 2022
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2, Day 7: St Bonnet le Château to Geneva (with some more help from SNCF): 41.3k, 654m climbed
The second leg of my triangular odyssey – the bit I’d been most nervous about (with some justification, it turns out) is complete. My original plan had been to knock out a 100k ride into Lyon today, to catch a train to Geneva. By yesterday evening it was clear this was highly optimistic. Instead, I…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2 Day 6: Mazerat Aurouze to St Bonnet le Château: 67.8k, 1,522m climbed
Well that was pretty epic. I knew I was in for some climbing, but without doubt the Auvergne saved its full experience till last – it’s the most I’ve ever climbed in a day, Lejog included, despite the distance being well within my normal range. Honestly, with the hills and the heat, it felt twice…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2 Day 5: Talizat to Mazerat Aurouze: 56k, 907m climbed
Today was another opportunity to play that old Auvergne party game “How Green is your Valley” and its essential companion, “How Steep are your Hills”. For fun, we also had a go at “How Hot is your Afternoon “. The correct answer to the first was: very green indeed. Fortunately for me, the answer to…
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France et Suisse 2022: Touring off the Beaten Track
Never heard of some of these places I’m staying in? Neither had I. It’s one of the joys / curiosities / eccentricities of a ride like this from A to B, where the intermediate points are just a means to an end: you find yourself in some very random spots. Talizat was a hard-scrabble hamlet…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2, Day 4: Arpajon sur Cère to Talizat (with a bit of help from SNCF): 12.8k, 143m climbed
Seldom have the words “I’m taking the bus replacement service” sounded so good. Overnight, I had reflected further on my seasoned cyclist hosts’ undisguised horror that I was planning to pedal through Le Lioran on the main road. To put it mildly, they didn’t think it would be much fun – and that was without…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2 Day 3: Lacapelle Marival to Arpajon sur Cère: 67.2k, 897m climbed
After yesterday’s fun and games, I extracted a promise from Guillaume that we would ride only on tarmac. He was good to his word, but failed to warn me about the 6k of climbing straight out of the gate. Fortunately, it was a steady incline, and Bernard, fresh from a comfortable night in the hotel…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2 Day 2: Puy l’Eveque to Lacapelle Marival: 81.3k, 986m climbed
Bernard and I put in a proper shift today – Dolly Parton could accurately have described it as pedalling from 9 to 5. We also passed the 1,000 kilometre mark for the tour overall. Unlike the nice French couple I chatted to on the voie verte yesterday, who were spending what sounded like a very…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Leg 2 Day 1: Le Pécile to Puy l’Evèque: 79.9k, 735m climbed
Four days of rest and refuelling in the company of friends provided the perfect restorative after the first leg of my Franco-Swiss tour. And Bernard, for his part, was raring to go. Although Le Pécile is a hard place to leave, and if you don’t believe me you can see for yourself by joining one…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Day 13: Damazan to Le Pécile: 23.4k, 343m climbed (mostly over 2.5kms)
The first leg of my triangular trip is complete – I have pedalled 857kms from Fleet to the Lot et Garonne. On arrival at Fiona’s house, I literally received red carpet treatment. Sadly my luggage didn’t stretch to a gown, but the paparazzi did their best with the material in front of them. It turned…
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France et Suisse 2022 – Day 12: Sainte Radegonde (Dordogne) to Damazan 76.6k, 1071m climbed
Phrase of the night: ‘Madame, il y a une chouette hulotte outside my chouette roulotte’ (‘there’s an owl outside my cute gipsy caravan’). Despite the nocturnal noises, I had no trouble sleeping in my dream accommodation – for which I paid not a penny. Warmshowers really is fantastic. Breakfast was pretty dreamy too: And it…
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